Acting in Disorder and Order: A Perspective

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing–absolutely nothing–half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats"- Kenneth Grahame. A proper quote to introduce the following wandering.

Introduction

Over the course of some of the recent posts, order and disorder have been central to the focus. This post continues this thread by discussing how acting in order and disorder might be understood through connection with Morin and Kern’s (1999) perspectives on prosaic and poetic living. The following is an intentional pairing of polarities, order with prose and disorder with poetic, to see what happens through making these connections.

Prose and Order

A state of total order has been described in earlier posts as one where everything acts as if in accordance with law, regular, fixed, and predictable (Morin, 2008). In ordered environments where the entities and processes being observed are reliably unchanging, one may act prosaically in a way that fits the ordered context (Morin & Kern, 1999). According to Morin and Kern (1999), “We dwell on Earth both prosaically and poetically. Prosaically (when we work, aim at practical targets, [and] try to survive).” While poetically is the way of acting in disorder, a prosaic way of being is appropriate for ordered contexts.

Order has its place. If an ordered approach to acting mirrors the type of context it is in, then it is appropriate for the environment. If an order-based actor is functioning in a disordered environment, then it no longer corresponds to its surroundings. The actor (or agent) will start experiencing breakdowns and confusion that may escalate, paired with rises in disorder. Importantly, order is not bad; it is not a negative to be in an ordered environment instead of one that is disordered or one containing a mixture of order and disorder that is complex. Order is not undesirable, only incongruent ways of acting in it are. The prosaic as a model for acting may be appropriate for order.

Acting prosaically in ordered environments is possible due to their lack of variability and turbulence. It then becomes possible to define desirable interactions with the environment and functioning in it through target defining and seeking behaviors. Accompanying practical target-seeking is prosaic acting’s concern for “practical, utilitarian, and technical tasks” (Morin & Kern, 1999, p.113) and other “rational and empirical activities” (Morin & Kern, 1999, p.138). The prosaic state, as opposed to the poetic state and its acting, “sets up for us a utilitarian and functional situation with its goal being utilitarian and functional” (Morin & Kern, 1999, p. 138). The prosaic state seeks to create a situation that is functional and utilitarian that has the goal of being utilitarian and functional. Such a perspective exists as the ordered environment invites it to occur. The prosaic takes advantage of the ordered conditions it finds itself in, exploits them, in the name of what is efficient, what is technical, what is utilitarian, and what is functional (Morin & Kern, 1999).

Lastly, there is the hyperprosaic “(technicized, bureaucratized, and econocrattzed; Morin & Kern, 1999, p.112). The hyperposaic can be seen as a contributing factor or the underlying essence of the ongoing transformation of the workplace and the organizational membership’s work experience through growing technicalization, increasing bureaucracy, and an obsession with internal economics that predates Morin and Kern’s (1999) mention of it, but remains an important element.

Poetry and Disorder

What, then, is the way to act in a state of total disorder, chaotic, erratic, inconsistent, volatile, fluctuating, and a departure from any given structure; disorder is noise (Morin, 2008; Waldrop, 1992). Contrary to imposing order in total disorder, an idea that has clear established merit, paired with disorder, the poetic mode of acting would focus on enjoyment, dreaming, singing, and celebrating “life for life’s sake” ( Kurtz & Snowden, 2003; Morin & Kern, 1999, p.140) and culminating in ecstasy.

Poetry is not only a literary genre, but also a way of life involving participation, love, eagerness, communion, enthusiasm, [and] ritual (Morin & Kern, 1999, p.138).

As part of the ongoing translation of poetry into disorder, Morin and Kern (1999) introduce wandering, noting that those who wander are not walking along a clearly identified and well-worn path, and as such can no longer put forth the law of progress as a heading and measure of success, while staggering through fog and the dark of night. The authors explain that unknown wandering increases poetry, bliss, and the genuine (Morin & Kern, 1999).

Although there is wandering, Morin and Kern (1999) note it is not haphazard, as the wanderers are following the direction of collaboratively reached values, ideas, and strategies that are continually improved through action, and not only the law of progress (Morin, 2008). With values, ideas, and strategies as headings, those who wander can be driven towards them with resolution and perseverance (Morin & Kern, 1999.

It is worth mentioning an observed negative correlation between an increase in distinguishing disorder and a decrease in years of experience in one high-risk occupation. Despite disorder not being distinguished at the management level, it may still be prevalent among the early-career workforce. Pairing disorder with poetics may suggest a different non-evidence-based approach than the established direction of imposing order to leave chaos. In Morin and Kern (1999), connecting poetry with disorder suggests celebrating its arrival, partaking in ritual, wandering in the disorder, and feeling enjoyment. Experience suggests that there are instances where abruptly leaving chaos is not probable. Management is capable of creating a highly ordered social system amidst chaos surrounding the system, but an environmental state of total disorder still prevails (Kurts & Snowden, 2003). This particular discussion could be expanded upon extensively, but this is an adequate stopping point for this essay.

Morin and Kern’s (1999) poetry provides some interesting insight for acting in a state of total disorder. First, it must be noted that the idea of poetic acting does not intersect with the idea of being able to see patterns in chaos, being in the eye of the hurricane, or otherwise making sense of disorder on a useful timeframe. Acting poetically in disorder would involve first enjoying it with jollity, eagerness, and enthusiasm. Pairing poetics and disorder indicates an interesting course of action - to enjoy the state of disorder, which raises an interesting question: What is there to enjoy in true disorder if everything breaks up before it has had a chance to form (Waldrop, 1992)?

Perhaps poetry is better suited for situations where there is a medium to high degree of disorder, but not entirely chaotic; it may even be called a disordered complexity. Approaching the boundary of chaos, there may be a presence of disorder to the degree that the environment is degrading and coherence is being lost, along with the previously stated characteristics of noise, inconsistency, fluctuations, and volatility, without crossing the edge into the chaotic or truly disorderly. In this state, enjoyment and jollity while having eagerness and enthusiasm for the situation may be possible. The experience of disorder and things breaking down, but not entirely, may inspire celebration, as there is still something to “hang one’s hat on,” and the energy can be electrifying, leading to enjoyment.

Ritual was also mentioned by Morin and Kern (1999), which may be appropriate in the state of near total disorder, as well as order. Rituals are meaning, behaviors, specific sequences of action, and language that are frequently and without fail enacted and adhered to by an organization. A particular ritual may facilitate the transition into disorder from order and back again, which signifies it is time to think, act, and speak differently to be effective in disorder and not be pulled under the waves (Kurtz & Snowden, 2003; Morin & Kern, 1999)

Conclusion

This has been an abbreviated exploration of interesting connections among order and prose and disorder and poetry. It may someday receive further development, but for now remains a successful translation of Morin and Kern’s (1999) ways of living into different modes of acting in order and disorder.

References

Kurtz, C. F., & Snowden, D. J. (2003). The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world. IBM Systems Journal, 42(3), 462-483.

Morin, E. (2008). On complexity. (R. Postel, Trans.) Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Morin, E., & Kern, A. B. (1999). Homeland earth: A manifesto for the new millennium. (S. M. Kelly, & R. LaPointe, Trans.) Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Waldrop, M. M. (1992). The emerging science at the edge of order and chaos. New York, NY: Touchstone.